Artisan Catch – formerly Orca Seafoods – has announced the launch of a new comprehensive Fishery Improvement Project for the blue crab fishery in the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Sonora.
The fishery represented an export market of roughly USD 30.5 million (EUR 26.9 million) in 2014, and has grown at an annual rate of just over 5 percent in the last 10 years, according to Artisan Catch. The FIP tasks will be carried out by Argentina-based CeDePesca, with the first stage beginning in July, according to a release from the company.
“The preliminary stage will allow for the design of a comprehensive improvement project that includes an analysis of the existing pre-assessment of the fishery with the available documentation, the design of an action plan to get to a level of performance to be certifiable by the [Marine Stewardship Council] standard for sustainable fisheries, and the prioritization of actions and tasks to move to stage two where the workplan will be finalized,” Artisan Catch wrote.
Mexico’s blue crab fishery is dominated by artisan, small-scale fishermen, with over 5,000 catching the majority of the species in Sinaloa and Sonora.
“The Gulf of California small-scale crab fishery is rich with tradition and culture with over 5,000 artisan fishermen dependent on this blue crab fishery for their livelihood. After observing over-exploitation of this fishery in other parts of the world, we felt it was imperative to be proactive in implementing initiatives to ensure the sustainable future of blue crab in this region,” Artisan Catch Managing Director Mauricio Orellana said. “Our hope is through our leadership in this FIP, it will strengthen and protect these indigenous fishing communities who depend on this important fishery.”
